1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in display rack shelving and particularly to an extendable wire shelf which may be extended from one depth to another to permit restocking or to provide different depths for the shelf.
2. Prior Art
Display racks are commonly used in supermarkets and the like to display snack items such as potato chips, corn chips and the like which must be constantly restocked for freshness. A typical display rack of the prior art is shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,002 wherein there are wire shelves attached to sheet metal side brackets which are attached to vertical upright members to provide wire shelving.
The restocking of snack items is important to the display and merchandising of such goods. Not only must the snack items be restocked for freshness but snack availability and visibility stimulates usage as most snacks are purchased on impulse. The restocking of snack shelves on display racks is therefore quite important, but is also labor intensive and time consuming as the oldest snack items should be positioned in the front and the freshest snack items in the rear for product rotation. At present this is done manually by the restocking salesman pulling the snack items on the shelf forward by hand and restocking the new items behind them. This can be time consuming, especially for wide shelves with a large number of snack items.
There is a need in the display rack field of shelving of different depth for several purposes. For example in some seasons snack items might sell or move from the shelves faster than in other seasons, e.g. in resort areas. Additionally, it is desirable to have different depths shelves for different space requirements of permanent displays but this creates a problem of carrying a large inventory of different depth shelves.
Telescopic wire shelving as a general concept is known e.g. in the refrigerator art, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,103,885. Extendable depth or adjustable store display shelves are also broadly known, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,685,372 and 2,769,551. Telescoping trays for retractable display racks are broadly known, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,789. However, there is a need in the art for a simple, inexpensive, adjustable depth wire shelf for display rack which can be adjusted to different depths of use and can be readily adapted to permit quick and efficent restocking and product rotation.